Eliza Schyler Hamilton is known to the modern public through her marriage to Alexander Hamilton. She held affluent standing within her community due to her family’s socio-economic status. Throughout history, the contributions of women have been erased by reassigning her contribution to her husband by replacing the woman’s name with “the wife of …” or “Mrs. Alexander Hamilton” (Caldwell). In the light of this paper being a feminist analysis, she will be referred to as Eliza, and her husband will be referred to as Alexander for the duration of the paper.

The musical “Hamilton” explores the life of Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of America. Alexander is evaluated during the musical through his relationships with others. Alexander’s achievements can be highly attributed to the socio-economic status of Eliza Schyler Hamilton, his wife. In “Hamilton”, Lin Manuel Miranda attempts to acknowledge Eliza’s power within her relationship with Alexander. Feminist theory asseses media for the traditional roles of the family. The wife maintains the house and the private life of the family, and her service while managing the household is not seen as work. The breadwinner of the family is the husband. If there are any bad events that occur within the family, then the woman is at fault. Through the cultural feminist lense, the actual value of feminity with in the society is determined. In the songs “Burn” and “Stay Alive”, Eliza takes back her power from Alexander after he cheats on her and encourages their son, Philip, to participate in a dual. In “Blow Us All Away”, Alexander snatches the power from Eliza. When Eliza chooses to forgive Alexander at the end of the song “It’s Quiet Uptown”, which restores his power over Eliza. The relationship between Eliza and Alexander Hamilton explores the constant hegemonic changes within relationship dynamics.

After Alexander cheats on Eliza, he publishes the Reynolds Pamphlet to exonerate himself, the song “Burn” is Eliza’s opportunity to respond to the actions of Alexander. In “Burn”, Eliza gains power within the relationship. Eliza claims that in “clearing [his] name,”Alexander “ruined [their] lives” by allowing the “whole world” into their personal life (“Burn”). During this era of history, divorce was not an option for married couples, so Eliza and Alexander would have to remain married until death. Knowing Alexander’s history for publishing his writing, Eliza burns their letters “erasing herself from the narrative” and makes Alexander “sleep in [his] office” (“Burn”). Through the letter burning, Eliza is taking control and creating her own narrative. She did not consent to her private life being broadcasted to the world. In publishing the Reynolds Pamphlet, Hamilton established himself as the power above, and Eliza as the power below. Eliza establishes herself as the power above in “Burn” when she burns her response to Alexander’s affair. Eliza’s actions erase her from the macro-narrative of Alexander’s story and seem to comply with the gender norm of forgiving and ignoring adultery within a marriage. Within the micro-narrative, Eliza is taking control of the situation by controlling what the public can know about her response, and she rebels the gender norm of forgiving and ignoring adultery by having Alexander “forfeit the place in [their] bed” for his “office instead” (“Burn”). In “Burn”, Eliza defies the social norm of ignoring Alexander’s cheating within the limits of her time by burning their letters and making him sleep in his office. “Burn” perpetuates the cultural value of women’s silence.

In the song “Blow Us All Away”, Alexander snatches the power back from Eliza. Their son, Philip, attributes his “brains” to his “pops” (“Blow Us All Away”). Earlier in Act Two during “Take A Break”, the audience observes that Eliza teaches young Philip (“Take A Break”).

Alexander becomes the power above because society attributes intelligence and success to men. This social norm is maintained by the disregard of Eliza’s role in Philip’s education. Philip mentions his time at “King’s College” and “boarding school”, but does not mention Eliza teaching him piano and French (“Blow Us All Away”). Alexander played a lesser role in Philip’s upbringing than Eliza, but he is able to claim Philip’s success as a direct result of himself due to social norms. These actions further the separation between Eliza and Alexander because decisions made in Eliza’s absence.

“Blow Us All Away” and “Stay Alive” perpetuate the gendered separation of public and private spheres. Philip represents the hegemonic shift from Alexander as the power above to Eliza to the power above. When Philip is counting down for the duel, he counts aloud in English (“Blow Us All Away”). The next song “Stay Alive”, Philip counts aloud in French with Eliza (“Stay Alive”). Philip’s switch from English to French is symbolic of his recognition of Eliza’s role in his education. Before his death, Philip apologizes to his mother “for forgetting what you taught me” and recalls learning piano and French (“Stay Alive”). While this acknowledgement, the scene is perpetuating the social standard that whenever something goes wrong it is the woman’s fault because she did not teach the children well. The music in the background of Eliza and Philip counting is the same as the background music when Alexander gives Philip dueling advice. The usage of this music in both spheres symbolizes the diffusion of a woman’s role within the family life, even when she is absent. Eliza’s power is restored when she and Philip count in French.

During the song “It’s Quiet Uptown,” power is maintained and then switched by the end of the song. Eliza’s power is maintained when Alexander asks her for forgiveness. The remainder of their relationship relies on Eliza’s decision to forgive Alexander because of this, Eliza holds the position of the power above. Hamilton acknowledges Eliza’s power by asking her to forgive him. He knows that if he apologizes Eliza will extend her forgiveness, and he informs the audience of this knowledge when he says “ I know who I married” (“It’s Quiet Uptown”). The moment this line is sung represents Alexander’s resistance within the hegemonic circle, indicating that there will be a power switch. Eliza does extend her forgiveness when she “takes his hand” (“It’s Quiet Uptown”). Her gesture is the shift of Eliza from power above to power below. Eliza restores Alexander’s power. Also, Alexander and Eliza are referred to as “the Hamiltons” for the first time since their marriage (“It’s Quiet Uptown”). Manuel’s reference to them as “the Hamilton” could be an attempt to create unity between Eliza and Alexander after turmoil. Yet, Eliza’s gesture of forgiveness and the usage of “the Hamiltons” continues to silence Eliza. The song “It’s Quiet Uptown” continues to highlight the cultural value of women forgiving men in order to create peace within the private sphere.

The songs “Take A Break”, “Burn”, “Stay Alive”, and all of “It’s Quiet Uptown” (except the end) acknowledge Eliza’s power, but “Blow Us All Away” and the end of “It’s Quiet Uptown” refutes her power. Eliza’s power is only within the private sphere. These songs further the gender norm of women controlling the home. Hamilton screws up the family life by cheating on his wife multiple times and encouraging his son to participate in a duel. Although she has no say in Alexander’s infidelity and Philip’s death, Eliza accepts the responsibility that the unrest within her home is her own fault. In “Burn” there is an attempt to challenge the gender expectations for Eliza, but she conserves the expectation by extending forgiveness to Alexander.. The play “Hamilton” maintains the cultural value of “the angel of the house”. As a modern play, “Hamilton” perpetuates the patriarchy by not challenging the gender norms.

Introduction

How do international organizations differentiate their brand to mold to each country, yet keep their core values? Starbucks is the world’s largest coffee brand. Starbucks is a glocal business because it was inspired by the Italian coffee culture, but the idea was transformed into an Americanized version. Starbucks is recognizable by its signature green and white mermaid logo and green straw. The company has transformed the way that the world drinks coffee. Starbucks places emphasis on the American ideal of individualism while promoting a community within the stakeholders of their brand.

Starbucks is a glocal brand. The organization uses community and personalization in order to create their atmosphere. Starbucks promotes community from the inside out. The company focuses on employee participation programs and diversity in order to create relationships among their staff. Howard Schultz, the founder and executive chairman of Starbucks, was inspired by his blue collar upbringing to establish employee participation programs. The company is driven to give equal opportunities to its employees whether it is through equal pay or employment opportunities. If the company is functioning well at the lowest level, Starbucks customers will be satisfied and return. Starbucks shapes the customer experience from as broad as the decor to as narrow as the ingredients of the drink ordered. Starbucks offers familiarity to customers at home and abroad as a result of globalization, which makes their customers comfortable.

Starbucks is important to organizational communication because the corporation practices globalization in a modern global society. Starbucks values its stakeholders and offers programs that benefit both the company and its stakeholders. Without Starbucks’ employees or customers, the coffee chain would not be in business. These programs establish brand loyalty. Starbucks also offers its customers an experience by tailoring itself to the needs of the local community. The company works to match its neighborhood aesthetic, while also standing out as a recognizable brand. A pitfall of globalization is the death of small businesses and local culture, globalization a delicate balance of blending together the two cultures. If the company is not careful, it will over power the local culture, which can be detrimental to the business in that location. The company, as well as others like it, struggle with the complications of glocalization. It will be interesting to study the implications that result from the wake of globalization.

How do international organizations differentiate their brand to mold to each country, yet keep their core values? Starbucks is the world’s largest coffee brand. Starbucks was originally a coffee roastery in Seattle, Washington (“Company Information”). Howard Schultz, the current executive chairman of Starbucks, fought for serving brewed coffee (“How I Built This”). Originally, Schultz wanted to open a hundred coffee bars, but the coffee brand exploded over night. Starbucks changed the American coffee culture from a “styrofoam cup at the PTA meeting” to a “paper cup” in a place that one could work and hang out with friends (“How I Built This”). Starbucks began serving high quality coffee to a consumer base that appreciated low quality coffee; this choice elevated the brand and the customer base (Cheney et al 172). In an NPR interview, Schultz emphasized that Starbucks was built “one customer at a time, one cup at a time”(“How I Built This With Guy Raz” ). The company recently opened up a store in Milan, Italy. Coffee is a major cultural aspect of Italian culture, and a global brand, like Starbucks, in the country is monumental, yet threatening (Donadio).When the massive coffee chain entered China, it converted a tea-drinking society into a coffee-drinking society (Smith Maguire and Hu). Starbucks adopts its host country’s flair while keeping its own core values, and this causes global business to flourish. Starbucks places emphasis on the American ideal of individualism while promoting a community within the stakeholders of their brand.

Starbucks is the definition of the American dream. Howard Schultz grew up in a poor family in the Bronx (“How I Built This”). Schultz’s father was a blue collar worker who was laid off after sustaining a work related injury. As a result of the accident, his family struggled with one breadwinner and no health insurance. Schultz went to college on a football scholarship, and majored in Communications. After graduation, he worked as a salesmen for Xerox and sent his parents half of his paycheck each month. While on a business trip in Seattle, Washington, Schultz discovered a small coffee roastery called Starbucks and fell in love. After working with Starbucks for a year, the company sent Schultz on a business trip to Milan, Italy so he could observe their coffee culture. This trip inspired the current customer experience at Starbucks. Schultz returned to the United States with a vision for Starbucks: to sell brewed coffee. Subsequently, Howard Schultz’s idea worked and he ended up buying the company from its original owners (“How I Built This”). Under Schultz’s guidance the company transformed from three roasteries in Seattle, Washington to over twenty-eight thousand stores across the globe. Schultz contributes the organization’s success to the company’s stakeholders. From the beginning, he prioritized the importance of his employees to Starbucks. Schultz wants his baristas to not view “making coffee as just a job, but a passion” (Schultz). Influenced by his childhood, Schultz offers his employees healthcare, stock options, and free college tuition if they work twenty hours or more a week (“Company Information”). As a communications scholar, Schultz knew that employee participation programs like the ones he offers, create: “increased productivity, job satisfaction, establishment of democracy in the workplace”, and in turn builds a better community inside and outside of the organization (Cheney et al 220). A result of offering these programs for his employees, the Starbucks corporation also benefits from low employee turnover rates compared to similar chains and this allowed the company to grow. Schultz continues to emphasize the importance of the role of his employees even in the organization’s crisis communication plan. He includes his employees in the crisis communication plan by closing all of his stores at the same time in order to provide training to correct employee misconduct (“How I Built This”). Schultz has done this multiple times, including closing stores to work towards correcting racial profiling in the spring of 2018. Starbucks also believes in order to serve their diverse customer base, they must have equal representation within their stores. According to the company’s website, the organization has fully reached equal pay in all of their U.S. locations and continue to strive for equality vertically throughout Starbucks (“Diversity at Starbucks”). Starbucks pushes its employees to “take each customer interaction seriously” (“How I Built This”). The organization gives its employees guidance through training and display the importance of the employee’s role through employee participation programs.

In 1996, the Starbucks corporation decided to go global. The first international store would be in Tokyo, Japan because there was a direct flight from Seattle (“How I Built This”). After doing research, the company was told that the Tokyo store would not be successful because of the company’s no smoking policy, the price of rent, and not to mention the fact that Japan was traditionally a tea drinking society. Another component that would lead to the store’s demise was at the time Starbucks only served hot coffee and it was “ninety-five degrees and humid” outside. To add pressure to Schultz and his organization’s investors, CNN was covering the Grand Opening live. When Schultz and his investors arrived to the Grand Opening at six in the morning, there was a line out the door and the first order was a “double tall latte” (“How I Built This”). The decision to go global was a bold, yet lucrative move for the Starbucks corporation that has greatly contributed to the company’s success.

The immersion of Starbucks into the international scene has created change within culture. Italian coffee culture varies greatly from that of American coffee culture. Italians equate coffee to a smoke break... quick (Donadio). Starbucks’ CEO, Howard Schultz was inspired by the Italian coffee culture, yet the culture that Starbucks influenced is the complete opposite (Schultz). Americans sip on coffee. The American coffee culture is a long drawn out process. What practices does Starbucks use that has contributed to this change? Starbucks offers large, diluted coffee compared to the small, concentrated Italian espressos. How will Starbucks change the Italian coffee culture? The company has already transformed a whole continent that drank tea for centuries into a continent that drinks coffee. In Asian countries, Starbucks is more popular than in America (Lin). Starbucks prices are almost double that of a typical Italian espresso (Donadio). Will Italians be willing to pay the price? Brands base their prices off of the consumer value of the brand, and Starbucks is one of Interbrand’s top sixty global brands. In Taiwan, Starbucks is seen as a status symbol between the Taiwanese middle class and young adults (Lin). Because of the elite status of the Starbucks brand, the company creates “brand fans”, a customer who is so loyal to a brand that they only buy that specific brand (Lee and Jung). If consumers have heard and known the name they are more likely to buy that brand instead of another because they know it is reliable (Gringarten). How do countries feel about the integration of American culture into their traditional culture? Starbucks entering China represents the spread of Western culture. There has been controversy over Starbucks in China because it is ruining Chinese culture. Chinese people are frustrated that Starbucks does not understand a collectivistic culture (Smith Maguire and Hu).

Starbucks embodies glocalization as a business model. Glocalization is the practice of promoting a product with both local and global appeals (Cheney et al 401). Personalization is one tactic that Starbucks uses to establish the brand as an elite status symbol (Lin). At every Starbucks, the barista writes the customer’s name on their cup. Also, Starbucks allows its customers to tailor their order to their taste instead of offering a drink as is. For example, a customer with a dairy intolerance can substitute almond milk for whole milk. The company has an app that can be used to locate stores closest to you, track rewards points called stars, allows for mobile pay, and order drinks online. All of the music playing in stores are available to customers who have a Spotify account. Starbucks uses personalization in all of its stores. Depending on the geographical location the company varies its decor, but stays within the same color scheme. Starbucks prides itself in physically blending in with the surroundings of its host country. The new Milan location has a marble bar to to complement the grandiose appearance of the building that it resides in. For its Japanese stores, Starbucks combined its classic logo with traditional Japanese architecture. Another example of this is a store in Amsterdam is located in a “former bank vault”(Bird). Also, each store has a mug based on geographical location for purchase. Starbucks provides a similar product around the world, but tailors the product to cater to the customer base of its host country.

In a global world, people love to find familiar brands while abroad, yet a brand that is similar to the local culture. Brands that achieve this status, like Starbucks, have a faithful consumer base. Because of the elite status of the brand, the company creates “brand fans”, a customer who is so loyal to a brand that they only buy that specific brand (Lee and Jung). Local businesses suffer when global brands step in and “take away” the customer base. How will Starbucks’ entrance to the Italian coffee scene affect the local coffee culture of Milan and the entire country? Globalization can kill traditional local culture. Starbucks won a copyright lawsuit against a small local Chinese coffee shop, Xingbake. This ruling is important because it demonstrates the priority of foreign brands in China. This ruling will allow Starbucks, and other foreign companies, to create empires in China, taking away from the small local businesses (“The Starbucks Decision”). Will it have similar implications to that of Starbucks in Asia? Starbucks prides itself upon recognizing the importance of each individual customer that they serve whether that customer is a regular at the flagship store or a first timer at a store in Milan. The coffee chain strives to serve a high quality product in an attractive atmosphere. In order for their customers to receive this experience, Starbucks emphasizes the role of their employees and customer experience personalization. The organization achieves stakeholder satisfaction through employee participation programs, which reduce employee turnover rates, creating a relationship between employees and customers. Happy employees equals happy customers. Starbucks enhances the customer’s experience through ambience. Stores are carefully curated to match the decor of the host location while conforming to Starbucks’ color scheme that creates a distinct brand. As a result of Starbucks going global, the organization has affected the local cultures that the brand encounters. Starbucks has made coffee lovers out of avid tea drinkers. In China, courts ruled in favor of Starbucks instead of a local Chinese coffee shop. Only time will tell Starbucks’ effect on the Italian coffee culture. Will Italians embrace or reject the global coffee giant? The globalization of the Starbucks corporation has allowed for the brand to flourish and reach people almost everywhere.

She is the queen of “white girl music”. She wiped away the teardrops from her guitar and welcomed us to New York. She originally wanted to be a star on Broadway, but changed her mind after becoming interested in country music. She moved to Nashville to chase her dream of making it big. She's a tall blonde from Pennsylvania. After signing with Big Machine Records, she released her first album in the fall of 2006. Her first single to hit the air made her the youngest solo singer/song writer to have a #1 country song. She has since released six albums and hit #1 numerous times (imdb). She is Taylor Swift.

Taylor Swift has been the youngest, the first female, or in the first handful of women to receive awards. Swift was the artist of country music to receive a MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video. She is one of the six women to have ever won Entertainer of the Year from the CMA (imdb). These are just a few of the awards that she has won and she will continue to win as she continues her career.

Taylor Swift’s success could be attributed to her genius, but also her stereotypical white girl image. Her mom dreamed of Taylor entering the business world long before Taylor did, so she gave her a gender neutral name to give Taylor a leg up. Early in her career, Swift was known for her curly blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. She was America’s sweetheart, the girl next door. Her tall, skinny, blonde, and blue eyed features made it easy for Taylor to enter show business. She taught many little girls to embrace their crazy curls, but Swift contradicted herself when she began straightening it as she entered the pop music scene. During her Taylor Swift album tour, Taylor personified the “girl next door” image by taking the stage in a sundress and cowboy boots. Swift’s outfits have since evolved , she has donned bright red lipstick to sequins to snakes. Taylor Swift has made many costume changes during her career to keep up with popular culture.

Her album Reputation signified the death of old Taylor. America’s little princess was no longer, she had grown up. This was a bold move in an industry that embodies the phrase “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. Arguably, Taylor Swift handled severing herself from her girl-like image better than some of her peers, like Miley Cyrus, who shaved her head and began pole dancing at performances. She is often paired with Selena Gomez and Katy Perry, two other when people google Taylor Swift. After seeing Swift’s success, the industry used her as a mold when creating Selena Gomez and Arianna Grande into their personas today.

The subject of Taylor Swift’s lyrics are well known because they almost always feature her muse… her ex-boyfriends. Her exes range from Joe Jones to John Mayer to Calvin Harris. Swift wrote Last Kiss and Forever and Always in honor of Joe Jones breaking up with her over the phone. She wrote Mine about Cory Monteith. The banger I Knew You Were Trouble is about the British heartthrob, Harry Styles. She references Calvin Harris in not only the song, but also the music video for Look What You Made Me Do. Critiques hate on Swift’s juvenile subject, but if this tactic sells albums and sells out arenas, why would she and her label change their tactic.

Taylor Swift has a history of standing up against injustice towards artists that has derived from the digital convergence of the music industry. In 2014, Swift took her music off of the streaming service called Spotify as a form of protesting the low royalties.Taylor allowed her music to be streamed on Spotify after the company created a new policy in 2017. She did the same in 2015 with Apple Music. Taylor Swift’s actions in pursuit of fair payment is admired by other artists wanting the same results.